In the limestone cobble, bare rock was exposed where the heart of the walking fern colony had been removed around the time of hurrican Sandy last year. This exemplifies the Federal and State Endangered Species Acts' classification of "Exploitably Vulnerable", which following Endangered and Threatened, often raises a questioning eyebrow.
Another interesting ecological topic this incident raises is "disturbance and recovery". It will be much more interesting to watch the natural recovery process than to intervene and "fix" the disturbance.
On the Cary Pines Trail, I stopped to better hear a bird call; it was a brown creeper.
On the Wappinger Creek Trail, I was nose to beak with another. This one was just giving its trill.
A surprise in the back Old Hayfield was the dogbane pods. Last week they were still dangling intact after hanging throughout the winter. Today only a few remained, the others having finally opened to disperse their seeds.
Another surprise awaited me in the parking lot. This disturbance I chose to fix, and in 20 minutes recovery was sufficient for me to be on my way.
